Battle(2)

Afterwards, another elite goblin appeared from the bushes.

As it saw the dead goblin on the ground, it became enraged.

Roar!

I was about to prepare myself for this battle. That's when I heard a running sound from behind.

Before I had time to turn to look at the source,

Thud! 

I felt a huge force hitting my back, and I flew towards the goblin that was enraged.

Because I was knocked out of balance, I was defenseless for the attack it was about to make.

The goblin kicked me in the stomach, knocking all the air out.

I flew towards a tree, and it stopped my knockback.

I landed with my butt on the ground, quickly trying to calm my breathing.

At the same time, I observed the surroundings.

'It was another goblin that attacked me from behind'.

I breathed in and out slowly. The two goblins were barehanded, so the damage they could do to me was not much.

That was a good thing; it was only because I was caught off guard that I took this much damage.

After this thought, I felt much more confident. I stood up and looked for my sword, and I realized that it was near the goblins.

'I must have dropped it when they attacked me'.

"Well, it doesn't really matter". 

I unsheathed my dagger and imbued my feet with mana.

The two goblins charged towards me, and before they were about to hit me,

I dodged to the side, and I did a sidespin to stab one of the goblins on the side.

Taking the chance, I stabbed it multiple times.

I dodged backwards to increase the space between us.

The goblin that I stabbed was in pain, and blood was dripping from its side.

But I could finally pick up my sword that was on the ground.

Holding the sword in my hands, I felt a lot more powerful.

The 10% stat increase really helped me a lot.

Once again, the two goblins charged towards me.

But now that I had my sword, and they were barehanded.

This fight was set in stone.

I stabbed my sword towards the charging goblins.

Quickly stopping their momentum, I swung again.

Little by little, injuries were stacked on their bodies.

If they couldn't dodge, they had to block with their bare hands.

Which is why I quickly overwhelmed them.

Soon, the two goblins fell to the ground.

[Announcement: You have leveled up!]

"Nice, I leveled up!"

I looked at my stats to see the changes.

[Name: Taeho Kim] [Level: 6]

[Age: 21]

[Stats]

Endurance: 11 (10)+

Agility: 11 (10) +

Strength: 11 (10)+

Magic: 0 +

Mana: 25+

[Stat points: 5]

[Skills] 

- Perfect Clear[X]

- Swordsmanship[F] 

- Trap Detection[F]

- Bowmanship[F]

Finally, with a stat of 11, I have entered the double digits.

It was nice to see progress. My stats were now better than Lee Min-ho.

I celebrated a little because it was nice to win sometimes.

But the image of the wolf appeared in my mind again, and I quickly got discouraged.

"It's not enough".

I sat down to think of a plan. Right now, my stats are around 11 without using the extra stat points.

But that was only slightly better than Lee Min-ho, who was level 1.

I thought back of the man who became level 3 on the second day.

He reached level 3 after the first day. So if Lee Min-ho has the same progress, he will at least be level 3 when the wolf spawns.

He would most likely be at level 4 or 5 because of his good skills.

This meant that the wolf was probably meant for a lot of level 4–5 players to take on.

Lee Min-ho alone would have a stat of almost 20, when we were supposed to fight the wolf.

That is almost double my strength.

This meant that the wolf probably had a stat around 40-50. 

I could at maximum kill 3 elite goblins at the same time.

"Sigh... Yeah, it's not enough".

I can't fight the wolf yet.

I stood up quickly and looked at the blue sky that was barely visible through the trees.

I smiled a little. 

"Sigh... let's do this instead".

It was a smile of pain at the thought of what was about to happen.

*****

I was sitting with my back leaning on the tree. In my hand was a sword, full of green blood.

Around me were 10 elite goblins dead on the ground with multiple sword injuries.

But I didn't have a single injury.

Sigh. 

I sighed out of disappointment.

The elite goblins are too weak for me now.

I have killed so many elite goblins, but I haven't leveled up for a long time now.

How long have I been stuck on this floor now?

4 months? 5 months? Even half a year was possible.

I haven't fought the wolf yet because I was prepared to do it with only me and the sports jacket girl.

I didn't want anyone else to die fighting it, especially if I was the one who manipulated them to do it.

Sigh.

"Maybe it's a sigh that I should fight the wolf now". 

Rustling. 

I looked in front of me with empty eyes.

And a goblin stepped out of the bushes.

I looked at it with a smile.

"Do you want to join your brothers?" I asked in a joking tone.

I didn't know if the goblins were related, but I said it because it was just something to kill the time with anyway.

Because the response is always the same.

Roar! 

They always yell in anger after seeing one of their others dead on the ground.

You would think they would be smart enough to see that even 10 goblins could not kill me.

But somehow they always get enraged and charge towards me.

Do they think that they were the chosen ones and that they could get revenge for their kinsman?

Honestly, the same response every time was getting a little tiring.

As the goblin was charging towards me, I imbued my hand with mana.

I am a lot faster at gathering my mana now, probably because I have been using it for so long.

I unsheathed my dagger and threw it at the same time as I released my mana.

Whoosh!

The dagger flew, cutting through the air and hitting the goblin in the throat.

"Bullseye"

The goblin started to bleed a little from his throat, and he tried to stop the pain by taking the dagger out.

"You probably shouldn't do that. It will make it worse". I said while I was leaning on the tree. 

But the goblin didn't listen to me as he couldn't understand my words.

He pulled the dagger out.

And blood instantly flew out of his throat as he slowly fell to the ground.

[Announcement: You have leveled up!]

I quickly stood up in excitement because of the announcement.

"Did I really level up?"

I looked at my status window. 

[Name: Taeho Kim] [Level: 11]

[Age: 21]

[Stats]

Endurance: 21 (15)+

Agility: 21 (15) +

Strength: 21 (15)+

Magic: 0 +

Mana: 25+

[Stat points: 10]

[Skills] 

- Perfect Clear[X]

- Swordsmanship[C] 

- Trap Detection[F]

- Bowmanship[F]

- Daggermanship[F]

The fruits of my labor have finally paid off.

But these last few months have been the hardest that I have ever experienced.

I have never been so diligent in my life.

Every day I would either go kill the elite goblins in the forest or train with Lee Min-ho.

This training kept repeating, and at some point it became a habit.

I felt like a machine and was on autopilot. But these last few months have not been in vain.

First, my stats are in the 20's now, and I am much stronger than all the other players here.

Second, my skill 'swordsmanship' has risen to C rank.

I clicked on it to read the description.

- Swordsmanship[C]

- You are very proficient in wielding the sword; when holding a sword, your stats increase by 40%.

I reached this skill a week ago, and the 40% increase was amazing.

It made me so much stronger, but at the same time, it also made me jealous of Lee Min-ho.

His skill would increase his stats by 100%, and I couldn't believe that the skill was only A rank.

The ironic thing that also happened was that I got a 'Daggermanship' skill.

It was probably because every time I regressed, I would use a dagger to stab myself.

Now that I'm at level 11, I think it's finally time to kill the wolf.

I would have fought the wolf at level 10, but I wanted to get one more level. 

Just so I was a little more prepared. 

"Well, now that I am level 11, it really doesn't matter".

I went to take the dagger that the goblin dropped on the ground.

It was full of blood, but I didn't care as I stabbed myself in the eye.

[Skill activation]

- Perfect Clear[X]

[Returning to the moment you first entered this floor]